The ENGLISH VERSION was filmed in parallel with the french version (The use of french was necessitated to have it distributed in Europe as the original Greek would have limited draw.) The incident took place here in Thessaloniki Greece, where I live).

All the performers were fluent in English and you can recognize their voices.

It was not "Dubbed" (watch their lips "expert").

Now those of you who know where the original English language version can be found, speak up.

It is an excellent film and deserves to be experienced. (Read the book.)


Z--he still lives!   January 27, 2004
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The 1969 Oscar winner for best foreign film is based on the 1963 assassination of Greek communist politician and doctor Gregorio Lambrekis. The opening sequence of first the agriculture minister equating mildew with communism and the Greek chief of police advocating the indoctrination of the population to become healthy elements of society loyal to God and the crown instead of isms like socialism, anarchism, imperialism, or communism describes the stranglehold the right has in Greece.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is denied a hall for its meeting due to the hall owner threatened by right-wing elements so the peace people have no choice but to hold at the Employee Union Hall, with loudspeakers outside for the benefit of the crowd outside. The leader of the movement (Yves Montand) decides to carry on with the speech despite learning of a threat on his life. He finishes his speech and is crossing the square to demand the police quell the seething rioters when he is struck in the head from someone in the back of a lorry. He is operated on but dies. His death not only makes him a martyr among his supporters, but causes a coverup to ensue. A determined photojournalist and the inquest judge assigned to the case soon realize the extent of the conspiracy, a conspiracy that goes up to the top.

The journalist's relentless digging leads to identifying members of CROC, the Christian Royalist Organization against Communism, a secret society the cops use to keep order at parades. The leader of CROC says, "Abroad, some say make love, not war! We say, 'Make war on corruption and liberalism, and on indiscriminate liberty!'" Well, the liberty that was banned when the junta took over included pop music, intellectual books, and the letter "Z", which was the ancient Greek symbol for "he is alive."Basically, they are the counterdemonstrators, the agent provocateurs who beat up the peaceful disarmament people.

The dispassionate inquest judge is simply doing his job, wanting just the facts, but with each piece of evidence or testimony that comes, he realizes that an incident involving two drunks becomes a death due to a blow by a club, and then assassination. He is under pressure from the attorney general, who feels that a prolonged inquest gives the peace movement fuel for subversive action.

Criticized for being talky, Z is actually an effective, suspenseful political drama that is a snapshot of the times. The assassination of the senator mirrors that of JFK. Witnesses intimidated, killed, and guilty participants having doctored stories from their paymasters. One witness though, bravely tells his testimony from his hospital bed even though he has been beaten. A leading communist is chased down the streets by a car.

The Cold War paranoia and hysteria of anti-communism is presented here, taken to the extreme of equating disarmament with communism. And groups like CROC are still alive today. The CIA-sponsored KOPASSUS was behind the 1998 riots in Indonesia.

Contrast these speeches, first from the senator: "Why do our ideas provoke such violence? Why don't they like peace?... The other [groups] are nationalists used by the government and don't upset our Judas allies who betray us. We lack hospitals and doctors, [while] half the budget goes to military expenditures. ... A stockpile of A-bombs is equal to a ton of dynamite per person on Earth. They want to prevent us from reading the obvious conclusion based on the simple truths, but we will speak out. We serve the people and the people need the truth." As Greece was the father of democracy, one can only think, "Has Greece come to this?"

Director Costa-Gavras's searing indictment of the CIA-sponsored Greek military junta under the colonels from 1967 to 1973 is the prototype of political assassination thrillers, something that may have served as a model for Oliver Stone's JFK. Indeed, the opening disclaimer states that "any similarities to actual persons or events is deliberate." The bottom line is that the CIA, the extreme right, and the military-industrial complex is also blameworthy.

One of the more radical peace members says of his ailing leader "the brain's dead, but the heart's still beating. I won't quit," invoking the spirit of any movement fighting for peace and justice.


Memorable Film In An Excellent DVD Restoration   November 28, 2003
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Although it is seldom seen today, in 1970 Constantin Costa-Gavras' "Z" picked up both the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Picture and an Academy Award as Best Foreign Film. In the wake of the John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations of the 1960s and fueled by the later Watergate scandal, the film had tremendous resonance with American audiences, becoming one of the highest grossing foreign language films ever released in that market.

Based on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, which was itself based on the 1966 "Lambrakis Affair" in Greece, "Z" is at once a political thriller and satire. Set in an unnamed nation, it presents a politician who is strongly critical of American and Russian nuclear build up and his nation's participation in it. Denounced by the status quo as a communist, he is met with civic obstruction when he arrives to give a speech and afterward is struck down and killed by a speeding truck in the streets. A drunk driving accident, according to local officials. An assassination, according to his entourage.

Although the film has a somewhat slow and uncertain build, once fully underway it becomes a rapid-fire series of sharply edited scenes in which the sloppy assassination plot is unraveled by a dispassionate magistrate sent to conduct an investigation--an investigation plagued by assaults on witnesses and civic cover-up. But in such a corrupt society, can the full truth ever be known?

Director Costa-Gavras walks a very fine line here, presenting the characters as archetypes but endowing them yet endowing with enough human emotion to engage our interests and sympathies. And the cast is remarkable, with Yves Montond, Irene Papas, and Jean-Louis Trintignant particularly notable. The script is at once chilling and covertly comic, jeering at officialdom around the corners of its more serious business, and the overall look of the film--particularly in the violent crowd scenes--is truly memorable.

The film has been restored to a pristine condition in its original widescreen and the DVD offers a number of language subtitles (including English) in easy-to-read yellow script. Bonus features are slight, but include the original trailer, samples of restoration work, and an extremely interesting conversation between novelist Vassilikos and director Costa-Gavras. Consta-Gravas also offers an audio-commentary--in French, which will be frustrating for those who (like me) do not speak the language.

Although some viewers may not even notice the satirical tone of the film, and while some will be put off by its distinctly liberal slant, I think most viewers--including those who don't normally care for foreign film--will find "Z" a fascinating ride, particularly if they enjoyed the likes of JFK or THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Time may have dimmed the origins of the piece, but sadly the subject of governmental corruption and the mendacity of powerbrokers remains as timely as ever.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer


Sharp, Fast Paced Thriller   December 1, 2002
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Watching Z reminds the viewer of a train wreck. Facts, acting, storyline, plot, and intrigue are all thrown together into one strange conglomerate of film. Miraculously, when the dust settles, this wreck of a movie is one of the best political thrillers ever made.

Z chronicles the turmoil of Greek politics in the 1960's. The Cold War was at its peak, with Vietnam on Europe's mind. The communists and other assorted leftists were becoming increasingly powerful, leading to an energetic response by the military and police. The event that Z spotlights is the assassination of a leftist political dynamo, played very well by Yves Montand. The tension on the street, the simmering violence and official misconduct are all portrayed in Z. The feel and aura of a dangerously fractured Mediterranean nation are explosive and will not be ignored.

The movie reveals itself to the viewer at a rapid pace. The best role in this movie belongs to Jean-Louis Trintignant, who portrays the Examining Manistrate. It's his job to finalize the report concerning the assassination, which the Greek military police deem an "accident". The Magistrate does not except this conclusion, especially after consulting with the doctors who have examined the body. His investigation proceeds at a whip lash pace, as he ignores threats and favors thrown his way in order to assure his collusion. The trail of evidence quickly begins to trail upward, to the top of the Greek government. For that ride, we meet many dynamic characters and are treated to some real exciting police work. It doesn't exactly keep you guessing, the guilty parties are fairly obvious, but Z is a taut political thriller that delivers.

My one qualm with Z is the lack of a total picture concerning the situation. Z focuses on the crimes of the right while ignoring any responsibility on the part of the left. Glossed over is the Soviet supported communist uprising that occurred soon after World War II ended, a very brutal civil conflict that has polarized the nation ever since. Z could have been a bit more powerful if it showed that no side on the political spectrum had clean hands, that the solutions to the nations problems were a lot less cut and dry.